Stop the NDAA in your State, County and Town

Los Angeles Event shows how States and Local Communities Can Stop NDAA Indefinite Detention

As Congress focused last week on the so-called “indefinite detention” provisions of the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), organizers of the “Nullify the NDAA” event in Los Angeles say that it’s states and local communities, and not Congress, who will ultimately put a stop to such powers.

Grassroots and media attention has turned towards Virginia, which became the first state in the country to reject, by law, participation in these newly-claimed federal powers. In Arizona, a similar bill is awaiting a signature from Governor Jan Brewer.

And, more than ten local governments around the country have already passed similar legislation, including the California cities of Fairfax and Santa Cruz.

“In the 1850s, when Congress passed a law to eliminate due process for runaway slaves, Northern States passed a series of “Personal Liberty Laws” to defy the federal act,” said Michael Boldin, executive director of the Tenth Amendment Center (TAC). He continued, “Some were so effective, like in Massachusetts, that after passage not a single runaway slave was ever captured by federal agents and returned to bondage in the South. It’s in that spirit today that states and local communities are standing up for due process and passing legislation known as the “Liberty Preservation Act.”

A recent Washington Post op-ed by former officials from the Reagan, Bush I, and Bush II administrations denounced such measures as “dangerously unconstitutional.” The op-ed authors also noted that a broad coalition was working together in support of the state and local efforts to reject NDAA detention powers.

“A great example of this growing coalition is our upcoming event in Los Angeles,” said John Michaels, national events director for the TAC. “We’ve partnered with the LA County Republican Liberty Caucus and Oath Keepers of California to host the event. And speakers there will include a Green Party member, a legal expert from the ACLU, and a representative from Antiwar.com. This is no partisan effort,” he continued.

What if Congress does not relent and keeps the NDAA in its current form? What if Court challenges fail? Do the states and people simply sit back and accept it? Or does a mechanism to protect their basic rights remain?

The Nullify the NDAA event in Los Angeles answers these questions.

The program, co-hosted by the Tenth Amendment Center and the Los Angeles County Republican Liberty Caucus, in association with Oath Keepers of California will be held at the Standard Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles on Thursday, May 3rd.

Event speakers will discuss the Constitutional issues with Sections 1021 and 1022 of the NDAA, historic examples of state and local legislation to resist threats to due process, current efforts in California and around the country, and action plans for grassroots activists.

“The Liberty Preservation Act isn’t based off some mystical legal principle buried in cobweb covered books. In fact, it’s so simple, a toddler can do it. You can explain it in one word – No!” TAC communications director Mike Maharrey said. “It’s a principle rooted in the Constitution and woven into the philosophical foundation of the United States. The Nullify the NDAA event makes the case in a captivating way.”

The Tenth Amendment Center exists to promote and advance a return to a proper balance of power between federal and State governments envisioned by our founders, prescribed by the Constitution and explicitly declared in the Tenth Amendment. A national think tank based in Los Angeles, the Tenth Amendment Center works to preserve and protect the principle of strictly limited government through information, education, and activism.

The Los Angeles County Republican Liberty Caucus is a grassroots County chapter of a nationwide organization affiliated with the Republican Party (GOP). The mission of the RLC is to recruit and elect Republican candidates who are liberty minded. While they encourage the exchange of ideas, their primary goal is the election of Republicans that lean libertarian to all levels of legislative bodies; city, county, state and national.

Oath Keepers California is the state chapter of a non-partisan national association of currently serving military, reserves, National Guard, veterans, Peace Officers, and Fire Fighters promising to fulfill their Oath they swore to the Constitution of the United States. With the support of like-minded citizens, their motto is “Not on our watch!”